A Teesside pub has carried out a deep clean of key public area after ten diners tested positive for salmonella.

Stockton Council’s environmental health team and Public Health England (PHE) launched an investigation after customers of the Anson Farm, on Teesside Industrial Estate in Thornaby, reported suspected food poisoning earlier this week.

Richard Lewis, for Farmhouse Inns which runs the pub as part of the Greene King chain, said: “We are extremely sorry to hear that people are unwell. We have been working closely with the environmental health department to establish if there is a link to our pub.”

He said the five-star rating remained in place. “We have carried out a deep and thorough clean of all hard hand contact areas in the public areas, in addition to our normal cleaning regime, and we have reminded our team of the important role they play in guaranteeing our customers enjoy the highest standards every time they visit us.”

Yesterday PHE, formerly the Health Protection Agency, said a total of 34 people had reported suffering severe sickness and diarrhoea after eating in the pub restaurant. The North-east centre of PHE has confirmed 10 of those people have tested positive for salmonella, with more results expected over the next few days.

Dr Deb Wilson, consultant in health protection at the PHE North East Centre, said the pub was co-operating fully with the ongoing investigation, and is “implementing a range of control measures requested by environmental health officers”.

She said the initial investigations have not yet identified the source of infection but the bug which is causing the illness is believed to be salmonella. People usually get salmonella by eating contaminated food. Salmonella bacteria live in the gut of many farm animals and can affect meat, eggs, poultry, and milk.

It is possible for salmonella to spread from person to person by poor hygiene and most people recover without treatment, but occasionally the illness can require hospital admission,

Paul Currie, of the Anson Farm – which is owned by the Greene King pub chain and opened last month – said earlier the pub has a five-star food hygiene rating and was taking the reports “incredibly seriously”.